영문초록

This study explicates the role of non-essential business talk in Korean business correspondence and contextual factors affecting the choice of non-essential business talk. The data for thus study is comprised of 149 business texts of internal (e-mail messages) and external correspondence (formal letters) collected from two different Korean business companies (i.e. food and pharmaceutics). In my data, non-essential business talk plays a role in making solidarity, mitigating the following face- threatening acts, or serving the function of collegiality, based on its placement. Furthermore, non-essential business talk reflects variables, such as distance and corporate culture.